A Murder Amongst Friends
by A Punk Rocker
Summary: Chapter 3 is here. After a gruesome murder in a nice house, on a nice street, to a nice family is discovered, the secrets of the team are starting to be revealed. My first fic with beta. Big on GRS. Please R&R PLEASE
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer – I don't own CSI, which makes my sad.

A/N – My first fic ever !!! So be kind or not, brutal is good too. Good response, bad response. Any response will be accepted with a smile.

Big thanks to GSfanatic for being beta to this story.

Summary – People lie, have secrets they keep parts of their life hidden from their loved ones, don't think our CSI's are any different.

After a gruesome murder in a nice house, on a nice street to a nice family is discovered the secrets of the team are starting to be revealed.

00:00 am

Walking into the lab, Catherine had a sense of … well she didn't know what it was. Maybe she forgot to do something or maybe it was the strange mood the lab was in. It was only the beginning of the shift but still nobody in the entire lab looked like they were busy at all. Not the lab techs, that were getting bored in their lab and not the rest of the team. 'Wait a minute where is the rest of the team?' Catherine thought to herself as she started to look for them.

She noticed that Grissom was just around the corner, his nose glued to whatever he had in his hands.

"Hey Grissom, got anything for me?" she said as she tried to look over his shoulder, managing to see the words "Hawaii" and "Italy" before Grissom turned around.

"Hey Catherine, you scared me" putting his clipboard close to his chest "I thought you were out, what happened with the DB over on Freemont?"

"Oh, yes… it's a deer, not a DB. Planning a vacation Gris?"

"What? Yes… no… maybe… I haven't decided yet, but more important, what do you mean a deer? Didn't you get a call for a hit and run with a DB?"

"Yes I did, there was no DB, just a deer that hit a car and then run" she couldn't stop laughing; bud did when she saw that Grissom didn't even smile.

"So… What now?"

"Now animal- control will take care of it, not us. They are trying to locate it. It had a chip."

"OK good. And no, I've got nothing for you, I've got nothing for the others either. Quiet night, I guess".

"It is Vegas Grissom, there is no such thing as a 'quiet night'. Someone will steal from someone or betray someone or kill someone".

"You're probably right. Everybody's in the break room. I'll be in my office if you need anything". He turned around to go to his office.

"Grissom, you deserve to go on vacation. Seriously".

"Well, if you say so Cath" and with that Grissom walked to his office and closed the door after him. Catherine in the meanwhile walked to the break room where Greg was eating a hamburger at the table, Sara was on the couch doing a crossword, Warrick and Nick stood by the counter.

"Want a cup of coffee, Cath?" Warrick offered when he saw her in the doorway.

"Yes, thank you. So… is this it for us today?"

"At least you were out, we've been here since the beginning of shift" Greg mumbled.

"Greg, don't talk with your mouth full, we barely understand you" Sara said across the room.

Swallowing the rest of his bite Greg tried again, "I'm sorry but I'm really bored, I can't take it anymore" slamming his head on the table.

"It's going to be alright. Don't overreact Greg" Warrick said as he sat next to Sara "Need help?"

"Thanks, but I want to try to finish it by myself, ok?"

"No problem."

"Here's something interesting. Grissom is going on vacation. Maybe Hawaii or Italy."

Silence fall on the room after Cath dropped that bomb. Sara was the first to speak. "A what?"

"Oh, I forgot. You don't know what a vacation is. It's a period of time that you are not at work, where you relax, take a break. 'A vacation' you know?"

"I've heard of such a thing. People tell me it's good for you", Greg joked.

Nick stood suddenly "It is serious Greg. It's another piece of evidence that proves that Grissom has a girlfriend."

"A what now, Nick?" Sara asked

"It's Nick's new theory", Warrick started answering Sara's question when Nick interrupted him.

"It is not a theory, it's a fact."

"On what grounds?"

"I'll tell you on what. First, the beard. It went away, it came back, and it went way again. Second when the shift is over he goes home, days off he's not here" now Warrick interrupts Nick "No, no Nick. I refuse to listen to the work of a paranoid man. That's you Nick"

"Wait a second" jumping in front of Warrick and trying to stop him, "Cath, back me up on this"

"I have to say his latest behavior is odd. He's not himself, that's for sure. He didn't say anything to me but you learn quickly that people lie. Maybe he's hiding something and doesn't want us to know"

"Perhaps with good reason. It turns out that we are very nosey, I'll be outside" Sara said, walking out of the room.

"And where are you going?" Catherine asked.

"To the bathroom Cath, can I?"

"You **may **Sara"

"Thanks mom", laughing to herself as she walked out, she still heard Greg saying "I want to hear more Nick, tell me more"

As she continued walking and laughing she ended up not in the bathroom but knocking on Grissom's door "Can I or may I came in? I'm not sure anymore."

"Without saying, you know you can."

Stepping into his office and closing the door after her, she walked up to him, stopping right in front of him and saying with a smile, "Hey".

Getting out of his chair and standing by her, taking her hand in his, he said "Hey to you too, beautiful" pulling her in to a warm embrace, moving his hand through her hair and kissing her with the desire he had ever since he walked out of their apartment.

"You got out fast today. Did you have something to do?"

"No. Why?"

"Not planning a vacation then? I hear Italy is lovely this time of the year"

"Cathy told on me, hun?"

"She did", Sara said, kissing him again softly, smiling and walking away to sit at one of the office chairs.

"Why did you do that?"

"Because you are vibrating"

Grabbing his phone he saw that Brass was calling him. "Sorry honey."

"Yes Brass". Sara could see his face becoming more and more serious, after another minute he finally said "we'll be there soon."

"What happened?"

"We have something new to do. Four bodies, one household. There's a witness too"

"How bad is it?" she wanted to know why he was so serious suddenly. They saw worse cases.

"It's bad enough, find everyone. We've got two minutes."

"No problem."

As she walked out he started to gather his things. Only one thought passed his mind, 'Please don't let it be him. Not here, not know'.


	2. Chapter 2

00:45

Outside the bright lights and the noise of the city's casinos, Thomas and Susan Hartwell thought they found their dream house. It had everything they needed. A three bedroom house with a spacious living room and an even bigger kitchen for their Thursday night 'family dinner' with their two children. Their favorite thing in the entire house was actually outside; they had such a large front and back yard that they were basically insulated. However they loved it.

Unfortunately because of this nobody heard the gun shoot or the screams, if not for a considered best friend, their bodies wouldn't have been discovered for days.

It was a 30 minute drive to the crime scene, the two gray GMC pulled up the road parking behind a number of police cruisers. The whole team stepped out of the cars; they were all on this case.

Brass met them "Hey guys, this is what we know at the moment, the Hartwell family was last seen leaving their daughter's high school play around eight pm, they were discovered by the girl's best friend and neighbor."

"The witness Jim? Did she see it happen?" Grissom asked.

"No, kid's name is Kelly Torres, she and her mother arrived home at eleven but she came over here to get back a coat she loaned to the victim. She entered the house and then was overpowered be the suspect. She was in there for 45 minutes."

"Where was the mother all that time?" Catherine was shocked and angry by what Brass had said.

"She thought her daughter was next door. She had no idea what had happened. All the girl said so far is that he threatened to kill her if she screamed and that he had killed every one in the house, then he beat her quite badly and finished with a stab wound to the abdomen. An ambulance is taking her to the hospital now."

"Sara, go with her and collect everything" Grissom was more bossy than usual.

"Sure thing" she walked away for the group for csi's. A kit in her hand she approached the ambulance and told the driver she was coming along. Going to the back of the ambulance, she got in and sat down by the girl, "Hey my name is Sara, what's yours?" The doors closed and they where on the way to the hospital.

"Take us through, Brass" Grissom asked as Sara left.

"Follow me."

Walking along with Brass, they got to a number of steps that lead to a porch. Grissom stopped. "Warrick take the outside perimeter, see if you can find anything."

"On it boss" turning on his flashlight he started looking for any piece of evidence.

"Brass!"

"Yes Catherine?"

"Do we know whose blood is on that porch?"

"Yes, it's Kelly's, her mother found her here, after she heard her call for help. There's a lot more inside."

Stepping into the house, they had to be careful. There was blood on the floor, a puddle in the front room and two tracks of blood, one leading to the kitchen and another upstairs.

"Greg, make sense of this blood. Who? Where? You know."

"Shoot, sample and sort. My pleasure". Kit on the floor, camera in hand, Greg started to take photographs.

"First body is in the kitchen. The father, Thomas Hartwell with what appears to be a gun shot to the head".

"That's more or less different" Grissom murmured to himself.

"What did you say Gris?" Cath could swear she heard him say something.

Looking straight at Brass and ignoring Catherine "Where are the another bodies?"

"Upstairs, all three are in the main bedroom".

"Right, Nick, take the kitchen and the body, me and Cath will take the upstairs"

Nick just nodded his head and went in to kitchen.

Brass, Catherine and Grissom went upstairs. They were heading to the second door on the left. Inside was a terrifying scene.

"Oh my god! Who old is he?" Catherine asked Brass

"Thirteen months".

"He's only an infant. Unbelievable".

"His name is Taylor Hartwell; the body on the floor behind you is the mother Susan Hartwell and on the bed, that was Jessica Hartwell".

"We should get started; we'll be here all night and day".

Grissom hadn't said a word since they entered the room; his hand was on his face. All he wanted to do was gather his thoughts and think of the next thing to do. All he really wanted was to be back in bed. However, that wasn't a possible end to this day.

"Grissom, are you alright?"

"Yes I'm fine. I need to …… I need to make a call" leaving the room quickly, he left Brass and Catherine in a state of shock.

He needed air now! He got out of the house in a second. He stood outside, just breathing the cooled air; finally he took out his phone and dialed a number.

A tired female voice answered "Helloooo…"

"Hey, I'm sorry for the time but it's important"

"You are aware it's four in the morning here, right?"

"I said I was sorry, but it is really important. I'm on a scene right now…"

"Then maybe you should go back to work. Did you think of that?"

"Listen, I think David's back"

"What?" The voice was totally awake now "What are you saying?"

"I think David's back, I think he killed again."

"I'll be there as soon a I can"

"I'm sorry".

"Bye for now".

'I'm really sorry' he said to himself as he walked back in and started working.


	3. Chapter 3

04:00 Washington DC, Virginia

The streets were empty, dark and cold. A few people outside were starting their day with a morning run, however the majority of people are still in bed under the covers getting their last couple of hours of sleep before they need to wake up and try really hard to not be late for work.

In a modern looking apartment building things weren't a lot different, most were asleep, but not on the ninth floor. The light was on for the second time that night; the first time was an hour and half ago, when Alexandra Jean Perry finally got home. It was one of the longest weeks of work she had this last year. It was spent in a cheap hotel room in Austin Texas, on the most uncomfortable bed she ever slept in, and now that she was finally home, she couldn't wait to get into her own bed in her own bedroom. Leaving her suitcase by the front door, deciding to unpack tomorrow or the day after that, she left her shoes and jacket on the nearest piece of furniture she saw and walked to her bedroom. Once inside, her body just dropped on to the bed and once her head hit the pillow she was on her way to a deep sleep. That didn't last as long as she hoped for; her phone was ringing. She looked up and saw that it was only four in the morning. 'Who is calling me this early?' Thinking of ways to hurt the person that woke her up, she tried to find her phone.

"Helloooo…" she was so tired that that was the only word she could say at that moment. She heard the voice on the other side, she knew who it was; she didn't know why he was calling now. Speaking half awake half asleep she wanted to brush him off, go back to sleep, and call him tomorrow.

"Listen, I think David's back."

"What?" With one word, and not an unusual word, a regular word, a name, but when he said it, it meant something different. "What are you saying?"

"I think David's back, I think he killed again."

"I'll be there as soon as I can" she needs to see if it's true. He wouldn't lie to her, not about this, but she still needed to see it for herself.

"I'm sorry" he says again, it's starting to become annoying.

"Bye for now" Hanging up the phone, so many thoughts were running through her mind. 'It's him; it's not. Why here? Why now? It didn't make any sense'. Still holding the phone and dialing the office and smiling as she heard who had answered her, "Hello?"

"You are a pathetic stuck-up, do you know that Dan? Being in the office at this time?"

"Yes, of course. How can I help you, boss?"

"Why are you in the office Daniel? Did you even drive by your house? Why aren't you normal?"

"Normal isn't a fun thing to be. And I'm married to the paperwork, you know that, boss"

"Get a divorce, and get me Charlie please."

"Who is this Charlie you are talking about? The only one I know is home asleep."

"Don't try to be funny please, just give her the phone"

Moving away the phone from his ear he said, "She wants you" attempting to pass the phone to a dark haired woman that was getting angrier by the second at the man across from her. "You are a rat!"

"Sorry"

Taking the phone close to her ear, she answered "Hey boss"

"I said to go home and sleep. In fact, didn't I give you an order?"

"Look boss, I ignored it"

"Good girl, now pull up Vegas and confirm a four body homicide please"

"Doing it now. There is one a couple of hours old. Wait a minute… Boss, are you sure about this?"

"We are giving it a simple look to see if it's a serial. That's all"

"Alex, are you sure?"

"Charlie, go to the archives, pull up all the files, all of them and pass me back to Daniel, please"

"Right away boss." Handing the phone back to Daniel "Whatever she tells you to do, do it fast." Running out of the room, Charlie was heading to the basement to find five boxes of files, finding them in minutes. She knew where they were.

"What are we doing boss?"

"We are going to Vegas for a possible serial killer; you need to get approval from the big boss. Can you do that?"

"Not a problem."

"OK, see you two on the plane in 30 minutes"

"Yes boss."

It started to rain by the time Alex arrived at the airport. Her two team members where there, waiting for her.

"It's scary that you're already here"

"So, now what?"

"Now Dani, I'm going to sleep. Charlie, you better do the same. And you, Daniel boy, have a lot to read. Five boxes if I remember correctly"

"Boss, I haven't slept this week either, you know!"

The two women just looked at one another "The new guy Charlie, your job to teach him"

"Takes him a little while to learn, boss" walking up the stairs they were laughing to themselves.

"I need to learn what? Come on guys! I hate you!"

"We love you too Dani. Get on the plane, we are going somewhere. It's not a dream"

"Yes, boss."

Four hours later

"Are you tired Dani?"

Sitting in the front part of the plane Daniel spent the first three hours doing what he was told to do, he had gone through most of the files, but couldn't keep his eyes open anymore, so he just dozed of.

"No boss, no way would I do something like that. Sorry boss"

"It ok. What did you read so far?"

"Nearly all of it, physical evidence, local police testaments, FBI file on the cases with the profile"

"What did think of it? Is it correct?"

"I'm new to the all profile thing so I don't understand everything, but it makes sense with the evidences from the scenes or the lack of evidences. No prints, no DNA evidences do point at an organized killer. No sign of forced- entrance could mean he knew the victims. The way the victims were killed shows medical knowledge"

"You're talking about the most recent profile?"

"Yes, it's more accurate, and plus, the earlier versions were done in the beginning of profiling. They were hit and miss back then. I have a question boss."

"And it is?"

"This case, this serial killer, the last murder happened a little over 12 years ago, it's a cold case boss what are we doing flying to Vegas to see a scene and the only thing we know for sure is that there are four bodies?"

"There is no deadline for serial killers, they kill when they want to or when they thing they need to. And maybe you're right, it was a long time but look at BTK thirty years before he was stopped. The connection between the victims in all five cases, the mother, the father, the fifteen to seventeen year old daughter and the baby boy up to two years old, that connection is why we are flying to Vegas"

"OK boss, now what?"

"Now we do this. Charlie!" shouting in to the air and when no reply was heard she shouted again louder "Charlie!"

"I'm up, I'm up boss, I'm up"

"Good we're landing soon. Be ready please"

"Ok, ok you don't have to shout"

05:50 Las-Vegas, Nevada

The sun was starting to appear when Brass notices a black SUV pull up to the scene. As he walked closer to the car that had stopped by now, a man and two women had stepped out, judging by their suit Brass knew they were FBI. "Hello agents, captain Jim Brass. What can I do for you?"

"Special agent Charlie Cooper, Special agent Daniel Lee-Adams and I'm Special agent Alexandra Perry. We're here to take a look at your scene, captain"

"Just remember it's 'our scene' ok?"

"We'll be good, I promise" turning around to face her team "I am going inside, Daniel. Stay outside, Charlie…" with that she went to the front of the house and entered it.

"Captain Brass I want to talk to the first officer on the scene"

"Come with me agent Cooper" the two of them walk away leaving Daniel all along looking a little confused on what he needs to do now, he saw a man kneeling by the house probably collecting something, making the decision to do and see what.

"What to you have here?"

Warrick was surprised by the strange voice; he stood up and faced the stranger, in front of him stood a tall, brown hair white man "Who are you?"

"I'm sorry. Agent Lee-Adams, FBI" putting his hand forward for a handshake "Warrick Brown CSI. I have a foot print"

"Interesting"  
"And I found more over there by the trees, perhaps he was waiting for the family to came home"  
"Perhaps, I'm going to look around. Ok?"  
"No problem" as the agent walks away from him and went near the trees Warrick thought to himself 'just great. FBI agents, just what we don't need'

Waking through the house, special agent Perry saw similarities to the previous murders and very little differences. She looked in the kitchen. Two csi's where working there, she didn't wand to interrupt them so she turned around and headed to the second floor. She stood by the door quiet, not saying a word just looking at him taking pictures of the scene. "Not talking to me?"

"Yes, not much to say Grissom. You saw the body, you thing it's David. It is your 'first blush' not mine, not yet. Prove to me it's him, then we'll talk"

"Ok. Where do you want to start Alex?"

"The beginning is preferable, but anywhere you want Gil, is good too"


End file.
